update 2: analog industries doesn’t want to hear your (read: my) bitching -

Now, anyone who could possibly mistake me for an Apple apologist obviously doesn’t know me or read anything I’ve written in the last… oh… 5 years. There is absolutely no way I will defend that company, in any way, shape, or form. But that said, I think that the iPad is exactly what it is advertised to be: a big fucking iPod touch. In that context, if you need a big fucking iPod touch, you’re in good shape, because there is one now. If you don’t, believe it or not, you don’t have to buy one. There’s no law that says you do.

For what I do, which is make music, and make software to make music, the iPad is pretty fucking cool, bordering on heaven-sent. I can easily think of about 20 ways this will be handy for me, and if you gave me a little time to think about it, I could come up with dozens more. For the times I’m not making music or making software to make music, I’m either sitting outside or sitting on my couch, staring at the tiny screen of my iPhone as I play games. This will be a nice replacement for that.

update: the analysis at CDM is thorough and definitely worth reading.

rounded up by sonicstate:

• Wired’s Eliot Van Buskirk says “The iPad offers a step forward for music fans and recorded-music companies in the form of support for the iTunes LP format — a deluxe, extras-laden package that previously played only on desktops and laptops running iTunes.”
• Bob Lefsetz says “I’m not convinced I need one! The iPad is almost like a computer without software. Why do I need one again? There’s no MacPaint, like on the original Macintosh. There’s nothing revolutionary. I give Apple credit for building it, but I’ve got to give them credit for building the Cube too.”
• The Free Software Foundation’s Holmes Wilson said in a statement that “This is a huge step backward in the history of computing. If the first personal computers required permission from the manufacturer for each new program or new feature, the history of computing would be as dismally totalitarian as the milieu in Apple’s famous superbowl ad.”
• Billboard’s Antony Bruno says “It’s fair to say that the newly-unveiled, over-hyped and much-anticipated iPad tablet computer will not be the mobile music business game-changer that previous Apple offerings were, like the iPhone and the App Store. That’s not to say it will have no impact; it will have more of an incremental, trickle-down effect on existing business models rather than enabling new ones.”
• ProToolerBlog’s Stiff says “I’d like to say that I see great potential here, but it’s all up to the app developers. I recently did an interview with Jordan Rudess who, besides his work with Dream Theater, is an avid iPhone and multi-touch endorser. He sees a very bright future for music when it comes to multi-touch and it’s very hard not to feel that passion.”
• CDM’s Peter Kirn has a scathing reaction to the iPad introduction, saying “I think the new, mobile Apple is doing immense harm to the computing legacy the company has forged. We could have had a Mac tablet today. Instead, we have a giant iPhone – and that’s a decision that has some serious repercussions.”
• Audio Cookbook’s John Keston says “I see the iPad as a very pretty, but bulky iPod Touch / Kindle great for Facebook, movies, and e-books, but not something that’s likely to become a significant platform for music or sound design.”
• SoundDownUnder’s Damian says “The iPad will be able to be used for virtual keyboards/synths, virtual drum kits, virtual tactile response interface and even a virtual mixer (maybe in conjunction with being connected to a PowerMac/ Macbook etc)… it will also be intersting to see if some of the big music software companies embrace this product as a control surface for their proprietry software. “

from daily mixdown:

Perhaps she will resurrect the newspaper industry.. put the Kindle out of business…pump new life into the handheld game world. What she WON’T do though is hook up to your PC via USB or Firewire and–as I had fantasized–and serve as a control surface for your favorite audio application.  Hey but wait a second– can Bluetooth handle MIDI throughput?

Of course there are hundreds of other ways she can be kept at work around the house, school, and office.  Cookbook, book reader, newspaper, movie player, sheet music holder (!), music theory training application, virtual drum machine, sequencer, video editor, video phone, and so forth and so on. But can’t the iPhone already do all those things?  Is the iPad just an iPhone on steroids? What other applications can you think of for her?  I admit I am a bit disappointed she doesn’t come with a stylus, and apparently may not be a fit for graphic artists after all. Maybe Steve Jobs has friends at Wacom. Or maybe he’s just merciful.

from synthtopia:

A lot of people are going to take a look at the iPod and react to what it’s not, and react to what Apple left out. People are already complaining about the lack of their favorite port or that it’s based on the iPhone OS instead of Mac OS X. No Flash support! No MIDI out! DRM!!!!

The iPad backlash is entirely predictable and is a standard part of the technology hype cycle. The iPod backlash is  a distraction from figuring out what the real role of devices like the iPod is going to be.

When I look at the Apple iPad, I remember how crappy every cell phone was before Apple came out with the iPhone. To see the potential of the iPad, look beyond existing devices, and think about what the iPad can do.

I see a coherent, viable vision for tablet computing that’s 5 years ahead of any other company’s.

The iPad will be immediately useful as a musical tool, because it runs countless existing iPhone apps.

As developers adapt their apps to the larger real estate, though, the Apple iPad will come into its own as a new platform for music.

Look at what has been happening with the JazzMutant Lemur as a malleable music controller and look at what has already been happening with iPhone music apps, and it’s clear that music developers are going to have fun with the Apple iPad.

related posts: ipad – a magical cockup